Intermission
by Blackspiderman
Summary: It's well known that Star & Tom dated once before she was banished to Earth, and that it went so badly it left them on bad terms for some time. So...what happened? One-shot. Rated T for safety.


**Star vs The Forces of Evil**

**Intermission**

**Disclaimer: _Star vs The Forces of Evil_ was created by Daron Nefcy and is owned by Disney. I own no part of _Star vs_.**

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**FanFiction Summary: It's well known that Star & Tom dated once before she was banished to Earth. It was a relationship that went so badly it completely fried that bridge & left them on bad terms for some time. So...what exactly happened to cause that? Well, here's my take on that ill-fated romance.**

**Original Postdate: January 4, 2020**

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_"It was just some big fight."_

That was the story Star sold to everyone she knew. The story as to why she & Tom Lucitor, prince of the underworld, broke up. It was the story she felt comfortable telling. It was the story she _wanted_ their first relationship to have. It made coping with the just a little easier.

The real story? The real story was...a bit more complicated...

* * *

**_Curtains open up the scene  
_****_Spotlight shine on you and me.  
Tonight (tonight)..._**

The real story - and the downfall of their bond - was extensive, but it culminated on a simple dinner date. Tom had booked him and Star a reservation at a local fancy restaurant in the underworld. It was the night of their three month anniversary. Tom wanted it to be extra special, not just because he held anniversaries on a high pedestal, but because at that point, things between the two of them were...fractured, to say the least. Over the course of their relationship, things went from marshmallows & rainbows to bouts of short-tempered outbursts, accusations of unfaithfulness from both sides, and outright harsh criticisms of the opposing partner and their lives. This dinner date was not just meant to celebrate their six month anniversary. No, it was potentially their last chance to salvage what was left of their relationship. All hands had to be on deck for this.

Star eventually approached Tom's table. She was dressed in a beautiful gold dress, with her hair up in a bun and her devil horns shiny as ever. "Tom..." She said, not a hint of optimism in her voice.

The demon looked up from his menu and stared her down. "You're late." He said sternly.

"Yeah, being a queen-in-training kind of makes you lose track of time."

"Uh-huh."

Already off to a poor start. She took her seat across from him and opened up the menu sitting in front of her. Awkward silence filled their table for several minutes. "So...how's the family?"

"Oh they're...they're fine I guess. Same as usual. Nothing really eventful there."

"Mmm-hmm, I see." She didn't look up from her menu once. For the time being, this was the the way to keep herself under control. Neither of them _wanted_ it to devolve into more bickering. They wanted, at the very least, to be able to end things peacefully if corn forbid it came to that.

"How's queen training going?"

"Oh, you know, same old, same old. Busy, extensive, exhausting, and pretty annoying because of, well, who my mom _is_."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Well, you know how it is. If I'm gonna be queen one day, I need all the training I can get. You know, political insight, proper behavior..._meeting and spending time with other rulers, particularly other princes._" She hissed that last sentence, her frustrations palpable. Tom looked at her square in the eye, his face contorting into a state of anger.

"...You're not gonna let that go, are you?"

"Gee, what gave that away?"

Tom groaned and put his menu down. "Look I already said I'm sorry. C-"

"No, you didn't." Star interrupted him angrily. "I - as well as my loving family - _explained to you_ in _great_ detail what was going on. The other _princes_ explained to you what was going on..._after_ you lashed out and unleashed fire balls at every royal family we had to meet with. And what did _you_ say? You said to me - and I quote - "_I'm sorry you feel that way._"

"Well I was. I am." He was clearly not getting it. "I can't control how you guys are going to react to me. What? I made a call that just so happened to be wrong. It happens."

"You accused me of _cheating on you_!"

_**Pretending for the crowd below  
**__**We put on a real good show...**_

_**But it's a lie (but it's a lie)**_

"What am I supposed to think? A young prince and princess together..."

"Do you know how long my queen training sessions go? They go _all day!_ I have to meet up with a lot of different royal families during these training sessions. Sometimes I'm in the middle of boring political meetings that put me to sleep. Other days I have to mingle with the heirs to the throne. Some of them just happen to be guys."

"Okay, okay, I get it, I'm sorry."

She squinted her eyes angrily at him. "...You know what? I don't believe you."

Tom rolled his eyes & sighed. "Okay, what is it this time?"

"Well first off I don't like your condescending attitude. Secondly, _you keep doing this!_"

"...Doing what?"

"Every single time I have to be on my own your first thought is 'Oh no she's cheating on me!' Even if I'm just going to be by myself because I want some alone time you think I'm cheating on you!"

"Can you blame me?!"

Her jaw nearly hit the ground. He couldn't be serious right now, could he? Oh yes, he was completely serious. "Um..._**YEAH I**** CAN!**_ Because it keeps happening! Or do I need to remind you of your last infraction?"

"...No, you don't-"

"No you know what? I think I do! You nearly burned Mewni's oceans into evaporation just because you caught me holding hands with Prince Larry Kelpbottom!"

Now Tom's anger was rising. He stood up from his seat. "What am I supposed to think when I see that?"

"Did you not notice that he was hanging from a ledge and I **_helped him__ up!?_** You know, so he wouldn't fall 200 feet into the ocean & possibly get hurt!? How did that not occur to you!?"

_**We can't help but cause a fight  
****It's the same old drama every night**_  
_**(I walk off stage 'cause this old play)**_  
_**Is more than I can take**_

The gears in Tom's brain began to turn. The logic of her words was sinking into him ever so slowly. "...Okay, but I didn't know that going in!"

"And that's my point, you dummy!" Now she stood up from her seat. "Every single time you dive head first and you cause trouble! You don't stop to think about how your actions could possibly hurt those around you. If you just took _one_ second to _think_ about what might be going on, things would turn out a lot differently every time! I mean for crying out loud, you never so much as offer me _any_ benefit of the doubt!"

"No offense, but _why should I_!?" His shouting started to draw the attention of those around him, which he took notice of. "Oh, who asked you people!?"

_**Whoa-ohhhhhh!  
****I don't want it to be over  
But we need a break before  
You break my heart**_

"What did you say?"

"I said 'Why should I offer you the benefit of the doubt? You never offer _me_ any! Did it ever occur to you that maybe the reason I'm so paranoid whenever you're with everyone else is because I want to spend time with you?! Seriously, we don't spend as much time together as I would like us to! Is that so wrong?!"

Once again, Star nearly had to pick her jaw up from the ground. "Are you..._**YES! **_Yes that's totally wrong! You can't be serious right now!" Tom's face fell, legitimately surprised his statement did not have the effect he desired. "Your excuse boils down to "You don't spend enough time with me" - which I remind you is mainly because of _**MY TRAINING! **__\- _"So that obviously means you're cheating on me with everyone you meet!" Her face was starting to turn red from the rage. "Do you even hear yourself right now!?"

"O-Okay, okay, I admit I may have overreacted just a little..."

"See, you're doing it again."

"Ugh, _what_ am I doing!?"

_**Ohhhhhh!  
We can't live this scene forever**_  
**_Right now you and me are better_**  
**_Better off apart_**

"You refuse to take responsibility! You messed up! And you _keep_ messing up!"

"I know, I know! But give me a break. Do you _know_ how hard I have it trying to be a prince to a family of an average Earth human and a literal demon!?"

"I'm sure it's _extremely_ hard but that's not an excuse! Besides, _I_ have it hard too! Have you _**met**_ my mother!?"

Tom began stuttering. He wasn't sure what he could possibly say in response to that. Star was being truthful. Compared to Tom's folks, her mother was debatably worse. Sure, she might not have had the rage problems Tom and his family had, but she was far more demanding of Star than the Lucitors were of Tom. She wanted to mold Star into a proper princess, and she pushed her very hard to accomplish that task. Sometimes a bit _too_ hard, putting lots of pressure on Star and putting her easily on edge. "Well...I-"

"Oh and you know what? It's not even just that!" In the middle of their argument, neither of them noticed that a waiter had placed a bowl of bread sticks on their table.

"Oh for the love of-what else is there!?"

"It's already bad enough when we're not together. When we _are_ together, though? It's a whole other level of obnoxious!"

"How so?"

_**But I'll still love y****ou when the lights come up**_  
_**For our intermission**_

Star unconsciously began pacing around in her spot, her veins tightening and her fists clenched. "Well for starters, whenever we are together, you are probably _the_ most unfriendly person I've ever seen. Both to me _and_ to everyone around you!"

"Wait a minute, time out. How am I unfriendly to _you_!?"

"Do you really want to know?! For starters, you don't even call me by my name. You call me "girl" or "princess" or some other pet name. It wouldn't be so bad if your tone wasn't always so damn degrading every time you said it. In fact, just the way you talk to me half the time with this infuriatingly condescending and dismissive tone when we try to have an actual conversation about important things! Like it was a chore for you to actually put in effort to our relationship."

"Like _you_ would know anything about effort!"

_**I was one foot out the door  
**__**I couldn't play that part no more  
**__**With you...**_

_**The chemistry just wasn't there  
**__**I couldn't act like I didn't care  
**__**Cause I do, I do...**_

"Are you kidding me?"

"No, I'm not!" Flames started to surround his body as his anger grew even further. "Why am _I_ always the one that has to make the initiative on our date nights!? If it weren't for me, we wouldn't even have dates, like, _ever_!"

Star took a deep breath. Okay, he made _one_ good point. "You know what? You're right about that. And that isn't fair, and I don't like that I do that, but if you think you're entitled to be a complete, unrepentant jerk to me just because of that one thing-"

"Don't you tell me what I am and am not entitled to!"

_**We can't help but cause a fight  
****It's the same old drama every night**_  
_**(I walk off stage 'cause this old play)**_  
_**Is more than I can take**_

"Ugh, why did I even come here in the first place!?"

"I've been asking myself the same question!"

"Then why don't I just leave!" Star turned around and started to head for the door. But Tom was not about to let her get away that easily.

_**Whoa-ohhhhhh!  
****I don't want it to be over  
But we need a break before  
You break my heart**_

Tom reached out and grabbed her arm, tightly squeezing it and causing her to yelp. "You're not going anywhere! We're not finished here!" He screamed angrily.

"Ow! Tom, what's the matter with you!?" She hurriedly yanked her arm away and began rubbing it.

"You're not leaving until we settle this!"

"What's left to talk about!?"

"I'll tell you what's left to talk about! How about we talk about how you're ruining everything!"

"Me!? Ruining everything!?" She took another deep breath, taking a moment to compose her next statement while Tom's anger continued to grow. "Look in the mirror, Tom. You're lost."

That statement - for whatever reason - seemed to push Tom over the edge. He started to levitate into the air and his flame aura grew to incredibly size. "_**SHUT UP**_!" He screamed as loudly as he could, the force of his scream shooting fire in every direction feasible. It shot in the direction of every remaining patron in the restaurant, causing them to duck for cover.

And it also launched in Star's direction, hitting her and knocking her down. And if that was the worst of it, Star would still probably have ample cause to leave & never look back. But no...it was worse.

_**Ohhhhhh!  
We can't live this scene forever**_  
**_Right now you and me are better_**  
**_Better off apart_**

Star's dress was tattered & burned at her sleeves & at the bottom of the dress. Not only that, but there were also burns on her arms, her ankles, and even her face. Not severe burns, mind you, thank goodness this wasn't life or death. But they were noticeable...and they hurt. And it was only after Star looked up and spread her body out to reveal the burns did Tom finally start to calm down. He realized what had just happened and his heart immediately sank. As for Star...well...Star just started crying. A mixture of emotional & physical pain overwhelmed her and there was no putting that back in its bottle.

Once Tom was back on the ground and completely free of his anger, he started to walk over to her. "S-Star, are you-" But as slowly as he tip-toed to her, she just as quickly started backing away, utterly terrified at the demon standing before her. "Star I'm so sorry-" She started shaking her head rapidly at him while scrambling to stand up. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mea-"

"_**STAY AWAY FROM ME!**_" She screamed to him. With that, she turned around and raced out of the door, sobbing hysterically & leaving a literal trail of tears behind her. Tom was left standing in the restaurant, with literally every patron left now staring at him rather angrily. He done did it this time.

_**But I'll still love y****ou when the lights come up**_  
_**Yeah I'll still love y****ou when the lights ****come up**_  
_**(The lights come up)**_

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_**We're like actors in a play**_  
_**Living out our love on stage**_  
_**You're just saying the same old lines  
To me...**_

As soon as she returned home, she locked herself in her room, refusing to even have her wounds treated. Her behavior was seen as quite out of character, even for Star, so Moon & River ventured up to the door leading to her room to try and dig the truth out of her. The door was shut & locked. Only the sounds of her wailing & stifled crying could be heard. They knew what happened: something went horribly wrong with Tom. Eventually they were able to convince her to open the door, revealing her burn marks to them. They sought to treat them immediately while hoping Star would start to talk about the experience she just had.

_**Somewhere we fell off track**  
**But I know love will lead us back**_

_**Whoa-ohhhhhhh!  
I don't want it to be over**_

"I'm so sorry for this, dear." Moon said as River cleaned up the last of her wounds. "I was afraid this might happen."

"Well don't worry, we're as good as over." Star said bitterly. "I'm...I'm sure you're happy about that." Moon was not a huge fan of Tom, mainly because of his well-documented anger issues.

"...No, I'm not."

Her answer came off as a surprise to Star. "You're not?"

"Look..." She sighed and embraced her daughter. "I'm not particularly fond of him, but it would've been wonderful for that to work out for you. I never thought it would end _this_ badly."

"That makes two of us."

_**But we need a break before  
You break my heart**_

"Mom...do you think people can change?" She asked as River helped her out of her dress and then had it taken to be sewn up & fixed. Moon, meanwhile, gave her question a lot of thought.

"I think...I think it would be to everyone's benefit if they could diagnose their own flaws & put in a lot of hard work to overcome & fix them. I don't believe anyone is truly beyond redemption. But they have to want it. They have to be willing to put in the work necessary to do it. Especially if it means atoning for actions that would require forgiveness. Perhaps years from now Mr. Lucitor will be an entirely different person from what he is now. Perhaps he'll have changed for the better, overcome all of his problems & forged himself into an honorable prince."

"And...we'll get back together?"

"That's entirely your choice, dear. But I think you would want him to prove that he's truly improved his person before you give that any serious thought."

_**Ohhhhhh!  
We can't live this scene forever**_  
**_Right now you and me are better_**  
**_Better off apart_**

"But what if..._if_ that happens...what if I decide I don't want to take him back?"

"Then you don't have to take him back. If that ever happens, you're more than free to get back together with him, but you have no obligation to ever do so just because he changes for the better. Especially if it's not something you want."

Star nodded solemnly, accepting her mother's logic. "Thanks Mom."

_**But I'll still love you when the lights come up**_  
_**Yeah I'll still love you when the lights come up**_  
_**Ohhhh-Whooaaaaa!**_

"Do you need anything?"

"...I think I just want to be alone for a bit."

Moon gently embraced her daughter - as did River - before taking her husband and heading out, leaving Star alone with her thoughts. This was undoubtedly the worst night of her life. All she could hope for was that it would get better from here on out. Even if she never took Tom back, she hoped that he would indeed change his ways & improve as a person. Because everyone deserves a chance at improving themselves.

_**Baby I'm gonna love you when the lights come up**_  
_**I'm still gonna love you when the lights come up  
Baby I'm gonna love you when the lights come up  
(Whooaaa-ohhhh)**_

Star walked over to the mirror on her wall. "Mirror mirror on the wall...call Tom."

"_Calling...Tom."_ The phone in the mirror rang for a solid minute, but no pick up. "_Please leave a message after the beep."_

**_BEEP_**

"...Tom...I need a break."

_**...For out intermission.**_

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**The End**

**So this has been stuck in my head for some time now and not gonna lie, I literally wrote this in a night. It's just a one-shot fluff about how I think Star & Tom's first relationship would end. It's not much but I hope you enjoyed it.**

**As always, please read & review!**


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